Undermining Andre Villas-Boas

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Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy and technical director Franco Baldini were not on the same wavelength as Andre Villas-Boas, so it was inevitable the substantial summer transfer window investments post-Gareth Bale were going to be questioned.

Villas-Boas did not request the signings of Christian Eriksen, Erik Lamela, Nacer Chadli and Vlad Chiriches, per Matt Barlow at the Daily Mail.

Lamela has been played more times off the bench (six) than as a starter (three) in the English Premier League, and his failure to fill Bale's role as the team's game-winner will lead to the downfall of Baldini, per Steve Bates at the Mirror.

Chadli never scored a goal in the Premier League under Villas-Boas—his first league goal came under Tim Sherwood, Villas-Boas' successor.

Eriksen has started to step his game up under Sherwood, who is credited with the Dane showing promise this season, per Jacob Steinberg at the Guardian.

Chiriches is the only player of the four who was seemingly in Villas-Boas' good books, even after the Romanian's agent outlandishly revealed that Spurs were a stepping stone to Chelsea for his client, per Sky Sports.

You can understand how hard it was for Villas-Boas to accommodate Eriksen and Lamela.

Levy hired Villas-Boas knowing the Portuguese was inflexible as was evident with his unsavory exit at Chelsea.

What else did Levy expect from Villas-Boas?

Eriksen can turn it around since he has Sherwood's trust, but you cannot say the same about Lamela, who was open to a move back to Serie A during the January transfer window, per Football Italia.

It is a reccurring theme in Levy's reign: If the club does not perform, he holds other people accountable, even though he is running the club.

Villas-Boas was the sacrificial lamb, despite being handed two marquee players he did not want.